A two-year research program is proposed to develop an ionization technique to extend the capabilites of mass spectrometry to low volatility, biochemically significant molecules. The Electrohydrodynamic (EH) ion source produces ions directly from a liquid surface and does not require the compound of interest to be in the vapor phase. Preliminary work has shown the E--H ion source to produce intense, steady ion currents of singly-charged, atomic ions from liquid metals. The proposed research will determine the condition necessary to operate an E-H ion source on a liquid containing non- volatile, organic compounds and investigate the fundamental nature of the ionization process. Once the nature of ion production is characterized, we will use the E-H ion source to study several biochemically important molecules. It is anticipated that the proposed investigation will provide mass spectra characterization on systems such as amino acids, nucleosides, and poly-saccharides.